


coffee stains & soda spills.

by winniewinko



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Best Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Halloween, Idiots in Love, Kinda, M/M, Mentions of haikyuu, Mutual Pining, Or am I, Pining, also a bit of luren, doten enemies to lovers tehee, feat jaewin's matching flannel shirt, i don't even watch anime lol, idk - Freeform, its mutual dont worry, jaehyun is also very much Smitten, jaewin are the idiots, jk, markhyuck if you use magnifier, smitten sicheng, taekun because i'm obsessed, wayv as furries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27057091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winniewinko/pseuds/winniewinko
Summary: sicheng's a Simp for his own best friend, and while his other friends love to tease him about it, jaehyun is oblivious. (or so he thinks.)it takes him being dressed as a furry, on their college annual halloween party night, to finally let his feelings out.
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, Lee Taeyong/Qian Kun, doten if you squint
Comments: 5
Kudos: 92





	coffee stains & soda spills.

**Author's Note:**

> hello again lovely peeps... so this fic is meant for halloween but i'mma update it early because why not?  
> this time it's jaewin because they're my otp hhhh  
> again no proofreading, yolo

sicheng isn’t suicidal – but at times like these he’s sure as hell he wishes to be dead.

when ten suddenly greets him with a warm beam and lucas in tow (really, when those two are together you should expect some shenanigans to happen) with some hideous-looking costumes in hand. it’s already october, sicheng notices (it’s hard not to when yangyang decorated the house with lots of fake pumpkins, in various sizes), but he doesn’t expect his best-friends-slash-sworn-family would be in the halloween mood this quick.

when he examines them up-close, the costumes are actually animal ones. there’s a cat, a bear, a sheep, a wolf (sicheng’s not sure, actually, kinda looks like a weird hybrid of a dog and a horse), a dinosaur, a donkey and a chick. 

“ what are these ?” sicheng asks, fixing his bag strap. he has just finished his class – one he shares with his crush – and his beloved brothers already embarrass him by showing up with these costumes. his classmates walk past him and shoot him a weird look, and he wants to scream _I swear I’m not a furry._

“ these, my dear sicheng, are our halloween costumes for the party !” ten announces. lucas nods, looking as enthusiastic as the oldest is. sicheng, however, grimaces. “ aren’t they cute ?”

“ define cute. these are ugly and there’s no way in hell I’m gonna wear this .” sicheng scrunches his nose up in distaste. he scans the chick one in lucas’s hands, and for a second it doesn’t look that bad, but still. he’s not gonna wear this.

lucas takes full offense at his words, gasping, “ watch your mouth, ge! these are tailored with love and passion and made of quality cotton, you know? and they’re adorable, mind you .”

before sicheng can open his mouth, ten shoves the chick onesie to him. why is he not surprised? they always associate him with chicks for whatever reason. 

the thing is, every students are allowed to go to the annual party their college always hold on every halloween, except for haechan, for reasons unbeknownst to sicheng (something about sleeping with the pastor’s son, mark lee? but haechan doesn’t give a fuck), which means his crush will be there, too. and he’s not gonna go to the party in this costume in front of his crush.

worst thing worst, literally no one wears such costumes to the party; it’ll vary from sexy outfits to cool to weird ones but nothing this… childish. sicheng thinks the costumes will be pretty neat... for middle schoolers.

“ ten-ge, I don’t wanna wear this !” he pleas, but to no result. ten’s glare screams finality.

“ nu uh. we always match every halloween and this time isn’t an exception. you’re gonna wear that costume, like it or not .” he says, crossing his arms. lucas nods again, and sicheng hates him for being ten’s loyal yessir-and-nossir.

“ come on, ge, it’ll be fun ,” lucas nudges him, smiling so brightly, and sicheng wants to punch him in the face. of course it’s fun for him. he’s wong yukhei, he can wear a trash-bag and people will still worship him. “ you’re the chick, it’s not bad, kunhang’s the donkey .”

ten snorts. “ that’s for cheating on family game night .”

lucas and sicheng shudder in unison. the mention of their family game night brings war flashbacks. no session ever ended peacefully so far, especially last week, when ten literally flipped the table because kunhang gave him a +8 card and kun had to end it before xiaojun could kill yangyang for playing tricks.

“ why… these ?” sicheng brings his attention back to his current dilemma. the chick face stares back at him with a blank look. “ we were sailor moons last year. this is such a downgrade !”

“ because, my dearest baby, in case you forgot, we’re broke. the sailor moon costumes cost a ton so we have to keep it low this year. the other option is to go for something… revealing, if you get what I mean, but kun’ll kill me if I dress you kids up in those clothes .”

“ we’re not kids anymore .” sicheng rolls his eyes. maybe wearing something ‘revealing’ would be better than being a chick, anyways.

“ tell me that when you cook your own meals .” ten shoots back, and lucas bursts into laughter, slapping sicheng’s shoulders repeatedly.

sicheng grunts. now, he’s not homicidal either, but sometimes he just wants to kill his beloved family, especially lucas (and maybe yangyang, because he ate sicheng’s pudding). don’t get him wrong, he loves his family, but he’s 23, not seven. his friends are all matching with their partners and he has to match with six other men, not to mention as animals, which will surely make them look like a bunch of furries.

and not to mention… he overheard that chaeyoung, a girl in his biology class who’s friendly with his crush is going to dress up as a sexy cheerleader (isn’t really a costume since she’s a former cheer captain, bleek) because he’s in the basketball team. yes, cliché, and it makes sicheng want to puke. 

and while he’s convinced wearing slutty costumes isn’t the only way to get someone’s attention, there’s no way he’s gonna win his crush’s attention dressed up as a baby chick, either.

“ maybe… maybe it’s better if I don’t go to the party .” he mumbles under his breathe, playing with the hem of the costume.

but nothing goes unheard when it comes to ten. “ don’t you dare, dong sicheng ,” he narrows his eyes and reaches to twist the younger’s ear, but sicheng fortunately dodges it on time. “ if you dare to skip the party or wear other costume, I’m gonna disown you .”

“ don’t tell me this is just another way to prove that we’re a ‘better family’ to doyoung hyung .” sicheng says, scanning the shorter, whose face turn red in an instant.

“ it totally is ,” lucas laughs. “ he took full offense when doyoung hyung said they’re gonna dress up as haikyuu characters. you know, since it’s anime-themed, so ten accused him of being a copy-cat .”

sicheng’s eyes lit up at lucas’s words. this means he gets to see his crush in a haikyuu costume… his heart palpitates at the thought. sure, he sees the other in his basketball outfit a lot of times, but this is different.

“ it’s a terrible idea !” ten exclaims. “ they’re basketball players, it’s foul play. so unoriginal and not creative at all .”

oh, but it’s a splendid idea for sicheng. he hopes jaehyun dresses up as kuroo or kageyama. but ten, being a fashion major, has rights to get offended.

speaking of the devil, sicheng flinches when a palm lands on his shoulder. he turns around and is about to curse at the culprit (thinking it must be mingyu to mess with him or even bambam because he’s annoying) – but his face softens the moment he’s face-to-face with the figure.

it’s jaehyun – his crush slash _best friend_ – smiling so sweetly at him and sicheng feels like evaporating into the horizon. his heart skips a brief beat and he manages a small smile back. as cliché as it is, sicheng feels the world around them stop spinning out of all sudden and it’s just them in the moment. 

lucas and ten both give him knowing smiles. his brothers know about his not-so-secret-crush, thanks to his smitten antics that failed him, and will never not tease him about it. at least they’re still subtle. well, not really, but at least jaehyun’s oblivious. 

how did they find out? well, when sicheng went to jaehyun’s dorm from a group project, his clumsy-ass poured coffee on his own shirt, and went back to his house (shared with his lovely brothers, of course) in jaehyun’s blue flannel shirt. not only that, his whipped-ass was too smiley all day long that day, when sicheng’s usually grumpy, so the idiots know something was up.

and then there’s this other incident, when yangyang ate the chocolates he made for jaehyun on 14th february.

_(the room was quiet, thick with tension, with kun and ten scolding yangyang while kunhang and lucas tries to calm sicheng down, when sicheng had blurted out, “those supposed to be my confession chocolates!”_

_long story short, the tension was long-forgotten and the annoying bastards begin to pester him with questions, even yangyang, that national disgrace. in the end, sicheng never got to confess.)_

he’s brought back to reality by jaehyun’s voice. “ winwinie ,” sicheng’s smile reaches his eyes now. it’s a nickname given by jaehyun, when they first played video games together and sicheng ended up winning all of them. he doesn’t have the heart to tell jaehyun he sucks at video games. “ oh, sorry. I didn’t see you two earlier. am I interrupting something ?”

“ of course you didn’t see us when you only focus on someone else ,” ten coughs and sicheng glares at him. it’s a warning but ten isn’t afraid. “ and no, jaehyun! you didn’t interrupt anything. we’re just here to give sicheng his costume .”

jaehyun’s eyes shift to the clothes in sicheng’s hands, and only then sicheng realizes jaehyun’s presence isn’t really a good thing right now. he tries to hide his costume; but it’s too late, jaehyun’s already flashing his signature dimpled-grin. 

“ cute .”

sicheng ignores the way his cheeks burn and turns to ten. “ speaking of it, couldn’t you give it to me at home? why must you come here just to give me this ?” 

“ oh, right. because actually, we need your help ,” ten nods at the youngest and lucas dumps the other costumes on sicheng. sicheng blinks, then squints his eyes at the two. “ can you take these to the laundry? kunhang and yangyang broke our washing machine, again, trying to do a science experiment or something… I’m sure as fuck they poured soda into it, and now it’s broken .”

“ and please buy dinner ,” lucas chimes in. “ kun-ge is… meditating, said he’s taking a break from all the mess and would probably not leave his room for the night, so you have to buy dinner on your way home .”

sicheng groans. it sounds like too much work. “ why me ?” 

“ well, young dude, xuxi and I are trying to fix the washing machine, and xiaojun’s assigned to make sure the idiots don’t break something else, so that leaves you .” ten points a finger at him, then trails his eyes to jaehyun, whom sicheng forgets is still next to him. the thai’s eyes met sicheng’s again and he smirks. “ I think it’ll be all. take care and try not to die, okay? and don’t buy anything with fruits or I’ll disown you .”

“ I know, ge. I lived with you for seven years ,” sicheng tries to hide the blush on his face with the ugly costumes. ten playing his parent is especially more embarrassing when jaehyun’s around. “ you two can go now .”

“ no need to tell us twice. see you later, jaehyun, and text me when you get there, baby .” ten says, and clings to lucas’s arm. jaehyun smiles and nods at them.

lucas shoots sicheng one last glance and smirks. “ good luck, ge .”

no, not _good luck interacting with humans at the laundry_ but more like _good luck with your crush_ because as much as sicheng hates socializing, he slightly hates being left alone with his crush more. jaehyun’s a nice guy, a gentleman who never mocks or makes fun of anyone, but sicheng doesn’t need anyone to tell him because he knows, matter-of-fact, that he’s awkward. 

being with jaehyun (who’s too nice to tell sicheng that) doesn’t help.

“ let me help you .” is the first thing jaehyun said once they’re alone, and before sicheng knows it, five of the costumes are already in his arms.

“ ah – you don’t have to, jae, they’re not heavy. plus I don’t wanna trouble you, the dobby is quite far from your dorm .” 

“ I’m free for the day, let me be a gentleman and accompany you for the rest of it ,” jaehyun says as they walk side-by-side, smiling. sicheng’s so in love. “ besides, we can grab dinner together .”

sicheng tries to hide the smile suddenly tugging at his lips with his sweater paws. “ that sounds nice .”

“ so… baby chick, huh ?”

“ huh ?” it takes sicheng a moment to understand jaehyun’s words. the older smiles again and nods at the yellow attire in sicheng’s hold, and sicheng cringes on cue. “ oh. right. yeah, guess I’m a furry for halloween .”

jaehyun bursts into laughter. sicheng turns to him, his grimace slowly turning into a smile. he likes everything about jaehyun – but his laugh holds a special place in his heart. it’s wholesome and genuine, although sicheng doesn’t intend in making a joke.

“ hey, to be fair, it beats us. I mean, I get the concept, but dressing up as haikyuu characters when you’re a basketball player is just… predictable. and boring .” jaehyun adds, nudging sicheng slightly.

“ I’ll think you’re anything but boring .” sicheng blurts out. his cheeks burn, and he doesn’t have to turn to see jaehyun’s smirk.

“ oh, really ?” he teases. “ well, I don’t think being a furry is that bad either… your costume is cute. suits you .”

sicheng whines. he can’t believe he’s hearing this from his crush, the guy he worships days and nights. “ please take back your words, jae, there’s literally nothing worse than being a furry !”

jaehyun laughs again. they’re stopped when sicheng almost bumps into a broad chest – which turns out to be johnny’s. the older has a diet coke in his hand but luckily didn’t spill any of it, and when he recognizes the two, he beams.

“ oh my, if it’s not the lovebirds !”

“ we’re not a couple, for the last time, hyung .” jaehyun says, firmly, and sicheng knows it’s a sign he has no hope. his heart aches just a bit but he smiles again when he sees doyoung emerging from johnny’s back.

“ aww, it’s sichengie !” doyoung exclaims and pulls sicheng into his embrace, pinching the younger’s cheeks and rolling them like doughs even when sicheng begs him not to. “ I missed you so much, baby. I haven’t seen you for like, years !”

“ you just met him last week when you invaded my dorm, again .” jaehyun reminds, matter-of-fact. sicheng was in fact chilling at jaehyun’s last saturday when doyoung busted in out of the blue, hogged sicheng away from his crush, and jaehyun had to kick him out so they can play mario kart in peace.

“ still, it felt like ages !” doyoung retorts.

johnny eyes jaehyun and smirks. “ not your boyfriend, hm, when you two are practically inseparable ?”

“ winwinie’s my best friend .” jaehyun retorts and glares at the tallest. sicheng blinks. damn, he’s used to the friend-zones jaehyun always throws on him, but it still hurts like hell.

“ aw, what’s that? winwinie ?” doyoung coos, ignoring the curse he receives from jaehyun after. 

“ don’t you two have something better to do ?” jaehyun asks before they could tease him again.

“ well, we’re about to crash taeil’s place, but since we bumped into you here, I want to remind you to dye your hair. for the outfit .”

sicheng’s brows lifted up in interest. jaehyun has a dark brown hair at the moment, so dying it means he’s not yamaguchi, because their shades are rather similar. he’s rooting for kuroo, because sicheng, being the weeb he is, might or might not have a crush on the said fictional character.

“ do I really have to ?” jaehyun brushes his hand through his hair, and sicheng stares as his locks fall back to their place. he does that quite a lot, sicheng notices. “ I kinda like this colour .” he smiles when he meets sicheng’s eyes, and the chinese looks away at once.

well… sicheng likes the colour, too. 

“ of course you have to, we’re going all-out ,” doyoung snorts. “ that devil is wrong if he thinks I’ll let him beat us .” only then does doyoung seem to realize sicheng is still there, while badmouthing about presumably ten (not an assumption when he’s really talking about ten, because, who else?). “ no offense, baby .”

“ none taken .”

“ why are you calling winwin baby ?” jaehyun asks, sounding both annoyed and confused.

johnny laughs and slaps jaehyun’s shoulder. it has to hurt, considering johnny has enormous hands, but jaehyun looks more irritated than pained. “ someone’s jealous, eh ?”

“ it’s because he’s a baby ,” doyoung squishes sicheng’s cheeks again. “ but I guess you’re right, john, someone is jealous !~”

“ gosh, just leave, you two !”

jaehyun pushes the older men away, and sicheng sees the way his ears redden. the chinese smiles to himself. it’s easy to detect jaehyun’s feelings, because his ears always betray him; it’s endearing. johnny and doyoung erupt into laughter, satisfied with jaehyun’s reaction. they both say their goodbyes to sicheng before leaving, shooting the last meaningful glance to jaehyun, and earning themselves a warning glare. 

when they disappear from sicheng’s sight, the chinese pokes jaehyun’s side. “ you didn’t have to be jealous .”

“ wha – what ?” jaehyun asks, ears still pink.

“ you didn’t have to feel jealous, jae. doyoung hyung’s only joking .”

the korean pauses, saliva going down his oesophagus as he stares at his best friend. his cheeks match his ears now, and he opens his mouth to speak, but looks away in the process.

“ do you mean it ?”

“ yeah !” sicheng nods. “ why should you be jealous? I know you’re closer to doyoung hyung, anyways, you will always be his baby .”

jaehyun blinks. it takes him a while to process sicheng’s words, and he turns to the younger, squinting his eyes in disbelief. his face crumples in disappointment but only for a second before he presses his lips into a thin smile.

“ ah, I didn’t mean it that way …”

sicheng lifts a brow. “ really? then… how did you mean it ?” 

jaehyun shakes his head, looking awfully shy out of all sudden. “ it’s okay, never mind …” he looks up to sicheng and rubs his nape. “ let’s get going ?”

without listening or even waiting for sicheng’s answer, jaehyun continues to walk, leaving a confused sicheng behind. the chinese shrugs and catches up with jaehyun, with little to no effort given his long legs. to his surprise, jaehyun has his jaw clenched, looking very tense, as if he’s in distress. sicheng wonders why. 

“ your friends are very kind .” he starts to lighten up the mood. “ mine are all pains-in-the-ass .”

it works. jaehyun scoffs, playfully rolling his eyes and sicheng smiles. he can see the way the corner of jaehyun’s lips quirked up.

“ like, maybe you guys will win in this… whatever type of family competition ten and doyoung are having. you guys are more suiting .” sicheng adds.

“ are you kidding me? I’ll trade doyoung for ten at any time. or kun, I can give you mark .” 

sicheng giggles. “ mark’s adorable .”

“ okay, then maybe not mark ,” jaehyun shoots sicheng a meaningful look. “ but your friends are cool. I mean it. and… you guys are a family; I can see it. I mean, just look at how ten treats you. you guys have, like, some sort of roles .”

“ yeah, well, I guess you’re right. kun and ten are the parents, obviously. yangyang’s the bratty youngest child… xiaojun and hendery are like the twins with constant banters. lucas’s the golden child everyone loves .”

“ what about you ?” jaehyun asks, tilting his head a bit.

“ me ?”

“ yeah. what’s your role ?”

“ hm… I don’t know, the eldest sibling who’s in an on-going life crisis because of his family ?” his eyes shift to the yellow costume in his hands and shrugs. “ or sometimes they treat me like I’m the youngest. it depends .”

from the corner of his eyes, sicheng could see jaehyun grins. though he doesn’t expect for the korean to suddenly pinch his cheeks. he turns to jaehyun, a bit flustered, to see jaehyun staring back at him with a fond look.

“ it means you’re adorable but also reliable. suits you .”

“ I’m ,” sicheng pauses, suddenly too shy to say anything. “ … not adorable .”

jaehyun laughs at that. sicheng almost frowns at the absence of his warmth when jaehyun pulls his hand back. “ sure, sure, cutie .”

sicheng huffs in annoyance. jaehyun laughs again when he sees sicheng sulking, lips pulled in a pout and puffs his already chubby cheeks, like he always does when he’s angry. it takes all the restrain in the world not to pinch his cheeks for the second time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ what a shame it rained, hm ?” jaehyun says once he shrugs his jacket off. he brushes his hand through his soaking hair, and sicheng tries not to stare. “ I thought of taking you to the new hot-pot place .”

but all in all, sicheng considers himself lucky. I mean… if it wasn’t for the rain, jaehyun wouldn’t have invited him over to his dorm.

sicheng takes his jacket off, too, and throws it to jaehyun, who catches it by reflexes. “ if you feel bad about it, better cook me something .”

“ didn’t even have to ask .” jaehyun smiles.

plopping down onto the couch and making himself at home, sicheng tries not to get flustered just by simple words. jaehyun stares at him in disbelief, then laughs and throws the jacket back right at his face. sicheng glares at him.

“ you’re really not gonna offer to help ?”

“ since when have I ever helped you to cook? plus, you know how much of a disaster I am in the kitchen .”

“ at least be there for… moral support ?”

“ what the fuck, jae ?” sicheng deadpans him. “ since when do you need moral support for _cooking_ ?”

jaehyun pouts, his tone sulky as he goes to the kitchen and sicheng almost awes at how adorable he is. “ fine, fine, just sit here and wait until I’m done, princess .”

“ I’m not a princess !” 

“ acts like one !”

sicheng rolls his eyes yet smiles. despite denying it, jaehyun is a five-years-old in a grown man’s body and it shows. he might not show it often (or at least not with other people) but sicheng thinks he’s quite clingy.

the chinese browses some channels on the tv but there’s nothing eye-catching, so he huffs and turns the tv off. it’s only seven p.m., and his phone battery had died some time ago, leaving him with no option but to bore to death. until… he decides to bother jaehyun.

the kitchen in the dorm isn’t big, but not quite small either. just a perfect fit for two people to walk around with tolerable spaces in between; jaehyun and his roommate also managed to stick a fridge and a small table into the room. it’s painted in dull grey and a bright red, interesting colours contrasting against one another.

when he gets there, jaehyun’s cutting some veggies, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows with sweat beads (and some rain drops, maybe) covering his forehead. sicheng ignores the way his heart palpitates and casually walks over, picking an apple in his hand. jaehyun turns to him and raises an amused brow.

“ has the princess finally decide to help his humble servant ?”

“ shut up ,” sicheng says. “ I’m hungry. you take too long .”

“ it’s not even half an hour yet, winwinie .”

“ it feels like three hours already .”

“ just say you miss me and go ,” jaehyun says with a smirk. luckily he doesn’t see how sicheng gulps at that, because well, it’s true partially. “ since you’re here, come and help me .”

“ you’re going to let your princess… do your work .”

jaehyun rolls his eyes. “ I’m not asking you to cook, winwinie, because god forbids it, I’m only asking you to help me cut these carrots .” 

“ fine, but only because I’m starving .”

sicheng washes his hands first, then off to his work. he doesn’t know how to cook, except to fry some eggs or boil noodles maybe, but he’s quite good as an assistant. kun always pick him over the youngsters, so at least there’s that. he slices the carrots medium-sized, not too thick or thin, like kun taught him how. a proud smile spreads over his face as he’s done with it, and he turns to jaehyun to brag.

“ hey, jae, look what I’ve – _damn_ .”

his eyes widen and he gulps. jaehyun is shirtless. shirtless! sicheng wants to scream. he admits they’re comfortable with each other, thanks to all the things they have in common, but this’s the first time he ever saw jaehyun shirtless. 

sicheng tells himself _don’t do it_ over and over again but his eyes don’t listen and trail lower, to jaehyun’s stomach, and his jaw drops. jaehyun’s abs are defined and tanned, looks like they belong to some model for boxers or something. suddenly sicheng’s too stunned to even think of anything.

jaehyun gives him a confused look, then his eyes widen when he turns to the carrots sicheng was cutting. “ holy shit, winwinie, you’re bleeding !”

sicheng snaps back to reality and turns to his hands. he’s indeed bleeding from a small cut on the middle of his palm, and that’s when he realized… he just accidentally cut himself while too busy drooling over jaehyun.

if his brothers hear this, they would never let him live.

jaehyun rushes to him almost immediately, genuine concern and worry on his beautiful face. sicheng’s heart almost skips a beat. the korean’s grip on his hand is tight, but nowhere near painful; if anything it’s warm and comforting. sicheng likes it, likes it too much it distracted him from the pain.

“ you’re bleeding .” jaehyun repeats.

“ mhm, told you I’m a disaster in the kitchen .”

“ this isn’t funny ,” jaehyun snaps, though not intended. “ let’s wash this up .”

“ it’s just a small cut, jae, I can take care of it myself .”

“ no, it’s not small when you bleed. what were you doing ?”

sicheng shrugs. “ … cutting some carrots .” he turns back to jaehyun, desperately trying not to care about the fact the older is half-naked. “ why are you shirtless ?”

jaehyun blinks, as if he only realizes it by now. he scans his own body and looks back up to sicheng.

“ I spilled some chicken stock on my shirt, so I took it off. why does that matter? I still don’t get how you could cut yourself – oh .” jaehyun stops, licks his lips and smirks. sicheng feels his entire body burns. “ was I… too distracting ?”

“ shut up .” sicheng hisses and swats his hands away. “ I’m… I’m gonna wash this .”

“ you didn’t deny it .”

“ the carrots are done .” sicheng says, ignoring jaehyun’s statement and the way the older stares at him as he rinses his hands with cold water. it stings when he applies some soap, but it goes as quick as it comes.

“ sorry .” jaehyun blurts out of all sudden.

“ for what ?”

“ if I didn’t tell you to cut the carrots, you wouldn’t had cut yourself .” correct him if sicheng’s mistaken, but jaehyun sounds guilty and regretful. “ sorry .”

sicheng wants to tell him of how many times he’s hurt himself because of his clumsy self, or even because of his clumsy brothers, and this isn’t really a big deal, but the way jaehyun looks so genuinely sorry makes him soft. 

“ it’s okay. really. it’s just a small wound, plus I only helped you cut the carrots when I should’ve done more .”

“ no, it’s fine ,” jaehyun shakes his head. “ how about you go take a shower? I’ll finish the rest then we can eat together .”

“ are you sure ?”

“ yeah. don’t want to get you too distracted and end up injuring yourself because of me .”

sicheng groans. jaehyun just had to ruin the soft moment they were having. but then again it’s jaehyun, what does sicheng expect anyways. he takes jaehyun chicken-stock-stained shirt and throws it to the older, and jaehyun erupts into laughter. he doesn’t miss the pink shade slowly tainting sicheng’s cheeks.

the bathrooms are in the respective bedrooms, and since jaehyun nor sicheng wants to invade his roommate’s privacy, jaehyun insists on sicheng taking a shower in his bathroom. sicheng doesn’t really mind. it’s not his first time being in jaehyun’s bedroom, or even bathroom in this matter.

respecting jaehyun’s privacy, he doesn’t lurk around and gets straight to the point. there’s a new strawberry-scented shampoo on the shelf, sicheng notices, and he debates with himself whether he should use it or not. he does.

when he gets out, he sees a pair of sweatpants and the blue flannel shirt (yes, the same one that helped in exposing his crush) on jaehyun’s bed. he can’t decide whether jaehyun has no other shirt to give him or if he’s doing it on purpose. still, he puts them on, grinning, because being in jaehyun’s clothes makes him feel like he belongs.

jaehyun’s setting the portable table when he walks to the living room. a hot bowl of chinese-style almond chicken sits in the middle among other side dishes, and sicheng’s stomach grumbles at the sight. the korean looks up to him and smiles.

“ what took you so long, princess ?”

sicheng fiddles with the hem of his – jaehyun’s shirt. “ I used your shampoo .”

“ … okay? you didn’t have to tell me. this is like, your fourth time showering at my dorm .”

“ no, I mean… the new one .”

“ the strawberry one ?” sicheng nods. “ oh. it’s fine, I bought it just in case if you showered here again, anyways… and you did .”

jaehyun shrugs nonchalantly, contrary to sicheng, whose blood pumps a bit faster than it’s supposed to. just because of a simple act jaehyun did. _god, sicheng,_ he mocks himself, _he probably did that because you’re his best friend, nothing more._

best friend. the words settle in the back of his mind as a constant reminder of what they are… and what they couldn’t be.

jaehyun pulls sicheng down next to him, earning a yelp and a smack on the shoulder. some 90s american movie was playing on the tv with korean subtitles but they don’t quite match the audio. sicheng’s too busy stuffing his mouth with chicken to care, though.

“ hey ,” jaehyun slaps his thighs, brows furrowed. “ slow down, win, no one’s going to steal your chicken .”

“ it’s just too good .” sicheng answers, mouth full of chicken and carrots.

“ don’t blame me if you choke .”

I rather choke on something else, sicheng thinks, smiling to himself.

“ besides, you’re not paying attention to the movie .” jaehyun adds.

sicheng shrugs, taking a sip of the cola jaehyun handed him earlier. “ it’s not like I understand the fuck’s going on .”

“ there’s subtitles .”

“ they’re using fancy korean words, jae, do you think I understand ?”

“ but this movie is really good …” jaehyun pouts.

sicheng refrains from awing over how cute (and childish) jaehyun is. instead, he takes another piece of chicken using his chopsticks and brings it to jaehyun’s mouth.

“ here, eat this .”

“ I’m not hungry .”

“ eat it, we were out for hours and the last time I saw you eat is during lunch ,” the chinese says, then narrows his eyes to emphasize he’s, indeed, serious. “ eat it, jaehyun .”

jaehyun stares at him, and chuckles, before he eventually eats the bit sicheng gives him. satisfied, sicheng smiles in victory then one bite turns to two, when jaehyun asked for another one, and three – then sicheng ends up feeding himself _and_ jaehyun for the rest of the night.

the movie ends earlier than he’d lie. they’re both sprawl on the floor, heads against the couch, stomach full from all dinner, and jaehyun’s head on sicheng’s shoulder. it’s content silence, and sicheng couldn’t ask for more.

“ who are you going to the party with ?” jaehyun asks, resting his hand on top of sicheng’s.

sicheng closes his eyes as he cranes his head up to the ceiling. “ who else ?” he replies. “ kun, ten, and the kids .”

“ you guys are in the family thing for real, hm ?” jaehyun laughs. it’s not mocking, rather amused.

“ yes ,” the chinese smiles. “ … what about you? who’s your lucky partner ?”

 _don’t say chaeyoung,_ sicheng thinks. his heart beats faster anxiously at the thought. in the other hand, jaehyun hums, thinking for a while.

“ same as you. doyoung, johnny, taeyong, and the others .”

“ we’re so single .” sicheng giggles, although he’s grateful for jaehyun’s answer.

jaehyun joins him, and sicheng could feel jaehyun’s fingers brushing circles on his hand. somehow it feels intimate… like there’s a meaning behind such a simple gesture, but sicheng tries not to think about it longer than necessary. 

“ we are. though to be fair, I like it this way .”

“ me too .”

sicheng opens his eyes and turn to jaehyun, his heart skipping a beat when he realizes jaehyun is staring at him all along. the room is dark now with the tv off, and jaehyun’s eyes are dark yet soft, his gaze unreadable and making sicheng nervous. at last jaehyun smiles and pinches sicheng’s cheeks.

“ it’s pretty late. do you want to sleep over or something? my roommate won’t be home tonight .”

sicheng turns away, trying to hide his tomato cheeks. “ nah… ten will kill me if –” his eyes widen when realization strikes him and he gets up at once. “ oh my fuck, ten and the others! I was supposed to buy dinner! god, god, I’m dead !”

jaehyun stares at him, then erupts into laughter. sicheng genuinely doesn’t think this is anywhere nearby funny so he glares at his crush – who only laughs more at his reaction. he takes the nearest pillow and throws it at jaehyun.

“ relax, princess ,” the older says as he gets up. “ I cooked for them, too. let me pack it up for you so you can, like, not die tonight .”

sicheng sighs in relief. “ thank you, jaehyun .”

“ you’re welcome, my dramatic winwinie .”

sicheng throws another pillow at him and jaehyun grins.

_time-skip._

when sicheng gets home, it was awfully quiet and dark. maybe the others cooked something and went to sleep already. nonetheless, he kicks his shoes off and gets in, slowly closing the door as he does so.

he turns around – and swear to god he almost drops dead from heart attack when out of nowhere ten is behind him, arms crossed against his chest, staring at sicheng with a sharp look.

“ dong sicheng ,” ten says in a tone similar to his mom’s back in wenzhou just as kun turns the lights on. “ where have you been, young dude ?”

sicheng sucks in a deep breathe. “ I –”

before he could finish his sentence, he hears distant footsteps and collective groans and sighs. it’s none other than his lovely younger brothers, looking like they starved for years, yangyang not even being able to walk so he just lied on the floor. kunhang walks to sicheng and points to the paper bag in his hands.

“ at least he’s brought dinner !”

“ yeah, but it took like, ten hours .” yangyang whines.

xiaojun nods in agreement. “ god, I even forgot what food tasted like .”

“ I was half-way dead .” lucas chimes in.

sicheng rolls his eyes, handing kunhang the bag, and suddenly the others are energized again; running to the kitchen to grab plates and utensils. but sicheng’s still not safe yet. ten’s stare hasn’t leave him as he gets in, not even when them and kun join the others.

“ I’m sorry ,” sicheng says, rubbing his nape as he plops down next to xiaojun, who’s busy stuffing himself with the chickens. he hands a plate each to ten and kun, with only kun thanking him since ten, well, is still bitter. “ I… lost track of time .”

“ it doesn’t answer my question. where have you been ?”

“ I –”

ten cuts him off, and sicheng’s not even surprised. “ why didn’t you at least answer my calls or texts? you took hours, sicheng, and it worried me to death. what if something happened to you? couldn’t you inform us first before going somewhere ?”

“ ten ,” kun butts in, noticing the distress in sicheng’s face. “ let sicheng finish .”

“ thank you ,” sicheng sighs. “ I was –”

“ oh my god, is that jaehyun's shirt ?”

suddenly it was drop dead silence, as if you could hear it if a pin was about to drop. sicheng shivers under their glances. yangyang, of course, the kid couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

then the minute after, they all talk in unison.

“ oh my god, it is !”

“ it’s even the same one from before .”

“ oooh, is this why you were late? because you were on a date with jaehyun ?”

“ why don’t you two just date already ?”

“ wait, they’re not dating ?”

“ guys, please ,” kun draws out a long sigh, and sicheng's about to thank him if he doesn't smirks right after. “ let him wear his boyfriend’s clothes in peace .”

they all burst into laughter, and sicheng whines as he bangs his head onto the table. yet another session of teasing has begun and how he wishes they were truly asleep. even the stern look in ten’s face has turned to an excited one.

“ now, now, I know we’re all happy for sicheng, but… did you use protection ?”

sicheng sinks deeper into the table, hiding his red cheeks. “ ten-ge, we only watched movies! and it wasn’t even a date .”

“ ‘not a date’, but you spent hours with him and even came back with his clothes .”

xiaojun swallows a mouthful of chicken before he butts in, “ hold on, on a more important note, where did you buy this? ‘cause damn, they’re good .”

“ I bet jaehyun cooked it .” lucas says, turning to sicheng for confirmation. the poor boy couldn’t do anything than to nod, raising more oohs across the table. he hates his family so much.

“ cooking for the family already ?” xiaojun smirks. “ he gets my approval .”

“ we need full story, ge !” kunhang demands.

“ can’t you guys just eat in peace? who’s the one who said they were dying ?”

“ we can eat while listening .”

sicheng rubs his face with his hands, trying not to flip the table. “ fine, but shut up after this .” the rest nods, although he knows he shouldn’t trust them. they will never shut up about his crush. “ we went out to the laundry, then it rained pretty heavily, so he brought me to his dorm. at first he was going to take me to the new hot-pot place but decided to cook for me instead, then… something happened and I took a shower at his place, that’s why I’m wearing his clothes .”

“ _something_ happened… which resulted in you taking a shower and wearing his clothes ,” yangyang points out, smirking, similar expression across the others’ faces. “ wonder what the something is .”

“ it’s not what you’re thinking, pervert. but nothing much happened after that. we watched some movies and ate, that’s all .”

“ that is all ?” ten asks, skeptical. “ you’ve been crushing on this man for years and all you do is eat and watch a movie when he took you to his place. man, no wonder you’re single all your life .”

sicheng whines again. “ shut up! no need to remind me how pathetic I am .”

“ damn, ge, I hate to admit but ten-ge’s right. you gotta make a move, you know? what are you so shy for? you’re gorgeous, I can say for sure he won’t mind if you jump on him or something. I mean, _I_ won’t mind if you jump on me –“

“ xuxi .” sicheng deadpans him and lucas throws his hands in the air.

“ my point is, if you were about to make a move, I’m pretty sure he’ll be more than happy to reciprocate .”

“ xuxi’s right, ge. come on, we all know jaehyun’s just as smitten as you are for him .” kunhang nods.

“ I don’t think so. I mean… he called me his best friend .” 

“ it’s because he’s also as stupid as you are ,” yangyang snorts. “ ge, he looks at you as if you’re a real-life renaissance painting .”

xiaojun smiles teasingly. “ if you’re not gonna make a move, I will. I love you ge but it’s jaehyun hyung, he’s literally the hottest guy in the english department – scratch that, he’s the hottest guy in the whole university, who wouldn’t want him ?”

“ fuck you .” sicheng snaps, though there’s no spite to it.

“ jun has a point. if you’re not gonna claim your man, pretty soon someone else will .”

“ he’s …” sicheng shrinks in his seat. he gets their point, really, but still, his anxiety says no. “ not my man .”

“ mhm. we’ll see about that .” kun shrugs.

“ can I excuse myself now? I wanna sleep .”

“ before that, baby ,” ten says as he swallowed his piece. “ I wanted to tell you, I signed us up for the dance competition for the party .”

“ um, okay, sure. are we going to perform the lovely choreography you made or ?”

“ oh, no, no, I meant – all of us .”

sicheng blinks. “ what ?”

“ I signed us all up. I mean, we both always participate in dance shows, and win, it’s fun and all, but I was thinking… why not just join as 7 ?”

sicheng stares at ten as if the thai has two heads. maybe this is just his hallucinations or something… he can’t be hearing this right. but the look on ten’s face shows him he’s serious, and sicheng throws his hands into the air.

“ but they can’t fucking dance !”

kunhang chokes on his salad. “ okay, true, but ouch .”

“ hey, I can do the chicken dance .”

“ yeah, I’m aware of that ,” ten says, ignoring lucas’s comment. “ that’s why we need to work on it, starting from tomorrow… I can teach kun and xiaojun; you can train kunhang, xuxi and yangyang .”

“ why do you get the easy ones ?”

“ to be fair, yangyang has basics .”

“ doesn’t change the fact the kid’s a little monster .”

“ I’m still here .” yangyang chimes in, pouting.

“ oh, it’ll be easy, I promise. they promised to behave… plus we’re performing the moonwalk dance I sent to you before, it’s easy. we still have three weeks .”

sicheng sighs. three weeks are short, but he has to make this work. “ fine ,” he pauses, lifting a brow. “ does that mean… we’re gonna perform in our furry costumes ?”

“ yup .”

sicheng doesn’t waste any time to get up, telling them good night before he heads upstairs to his room and throws himself onto his cozy bed, sinking his head deep into his pillows. this has to be a joke. a terrible one.

well, at least the date – _the hang-out_ with jaehyun made this day slightly better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

unfortunately for sicheng, ten wasn’t joking.

so like it or not sicheng has to train the trio after his morning class, which is at eleven a.m., and he has three hours to spend before his next class. which is english. the one he shares with his crush, but that doesn’t matter.

luckily for him, though, the kids are surprisingly well-behaved and easy to train. especially yangyang, since the kid has been freestyle-dancing for a while. though he still get some headache when they start messing around, being so loud they earn a few glares from other students in the dance studio; lucas even flirted with a girl.

“ I’m sorry ,” sicheng bows to the girl, who stares at lucas in annoyance, and drags his brother away. “ god, you’re so embarrassing, I left you for two minutes and you already harassed a poor lady .”

lucas huffs. “ at least I’m making a move, no ?”

sicheng deadpans him. not this again. they went through this yesterday, and even during breakfast, before sicheng decided to excuse himself earlier than he always does. he ends up starving himself if it’s not for taeyong who gave him some sandwiches when they bumped into each other.

lucas plops down onto the floor in between yangyang and kunhang, all worn out from the dance session. sicheng glances to his watch. it’s twelve thirty now, and he decides to let them off for lunch, since they’ll train this evening too.

sicheng claps his hands together. “ alright, I think we’ll wrap up for now. it’s lunch, kun-ge will kill me if I don’t let you guys go .”

“ aren’t you eating lunch with us ?” yangyang asks, handing a 100-plus bottle to kunhang, which the older gladly gulps down to.

“ nope. I’m gonna eat at the café, then hang-out at the library for a while .”

“ you’re such a nerd .” lucas scoffs.

“ bet he’s only gonna play video games .”

“ or ,” kunhang smirks. “ he’s gonna see jaehyun .”

the trio laugh in unison while sicheng grunts. they get up nonetheless, telling sicheng to take care and make sure to eat, unless he wants to receive another nagging from kun or ten, or even both. he nods and dismisses them, slinging his bag over a shoulder.

the thing is, kunhang’s right. he’s going to see jaehyun. like, not just the two of them – he’ll have lunch with jaehyun, mingyu and eunwoo, to discuss a group project for english class. but still, he’s not gonna let them get the satisfaction of knowing it.

he whips his head to the sound when the door creaks open, and sure enough there jaehyun is, stepping inside and smiles once he spots sicheng. albeit he’s only dressed in a black tee and grey sweatpants, he looks gorgeous, and the way he sweeps his hair back is a definite plus.

unfortunately, chaeyoung, who’s coincidentally in the room too, approaches jaehyun before sicheng could. sicheng halts in his steps and he frowns.

“ jaehyun ,” she greets, voice high-pitched. “ it’s been so long since I’ve seen you. did you skip your basketball practice ?”

jaehyun shoots sicheng a look, and rubs his nape. “ well, uh, yeah. I told the coach and even jinyoung hyung. I have some group project, so… yeah .”

“ I asked doyoung, and he said you went on a date with someone .”

jaehyun blinks. sicheng almost snickers, but manages to hold it in. their last basketball training session was yesterday, which jaehyun had indeed skipped, to accompany sicheng. and doyoung obviously knew. oh, that traitor playing cupid. 

chaeyoung’s look is sceptical and poor jaehyun isn’t immune to it. he shoots a help-me look to sicheng, and while sicheng loves to let him suffer, he’s still soft for the man’s puppy eyes.

“ a date with three other men, he meant ,” sicheng butts in, throwing an arm over jaehyun. “ jae’s right, we have an english group project. speaking of which, we probably should get going .”

“ yeah. we should, we have class in two hours –”

chaeyoung cuts jaehyun off, eyes bright. “ can I come ?”

“ what ?” both men say in unison.

“ hanna’s in the same class as you guys and she told me about it. about literary, isn’t it? I’m a big fan of literary, so maybe I can help .”

sicheng doubts it. he's never seen chaeyoung with a book, or even in the library in this matter, and every time someone talks about literary she always looks like she can't wait to be anywhere else. cheer practice, maybe.

“ um …” jaehyun pauses, looking for the politest way to put this. “ well, we don’t… it would be unnecessary, chaeyoung –”

quite fortunately, sicheng lacks of brain-to-mouth filter. “ we don’t need your help. eunwoo and I had done the reading; mingyu and jaehyun will do the research. we’ll be fine .”

“ oh, come on, some help won’t hurt .”

“ don’t you have friends waiting for you to have lunch together or something ?” sicheng asks, scrunching his nose. or maybe she simply doesn’t have friends. who knows.

“ hanna and lisa could eat without me. so… jaehyun ?”

the mentioned man gulps. he’s stuck in the middle, with chaeyoung looking at him with puppy eyes at the other side, while sicheng deadpanning him at the other end. knowing he’ll face death if he says yes, he sucks in a deep breathe.

but jaehyun’s a people pleaser and sicheng knows better than to expect a ‘no’ from him.

“ um… sure, why not ?”

chaeyoung beams. “ thanks !”

sicheng drops his arm to his side and throws jaehyun the last glare before he adjusts the strap on his shoulder, leaving the studio at once. not even a glance was spared as he speeds off to the library, ignoring jaehyun’s voice calling out for him.

_time-skip._

while sicheng doesn’t mind mingyu bringing his girlfriend, yumi, with him, he loathes chaeyoung’s presence so much.

yumi’s cool, she’s friendly with the other boys and kept pda with her boyfriend as minimum as possible – while chaeyoung clings to jaehyun like they’re a couple dumbly in love or whatever. sicheng couldn’t talk to him, not even about the project, because she keeps going on about some tricks she learnt during cheer practice (which, clearly, the boys can’t care less about).

sicheng doesn’t even try to sugar-coat his annoyance. he doesn’t look at jaehyun, doesn’t talk to him; doesn’t acknowledge his presence at all. whenever jaehyun tries to talk to him he’d just hum or nod. mingyu, yumi and eunwoo notice but they don’t bring it up to avoid the elephant in the room.

chaeyoung’s whiny voice cuts into their discussion. “ hyun, I’m thirsty .”

jaehyun, who was pointing out the climax of the story to eunwoo, stops and turns to her. sicheng notices how soft his face is when he looks at chaeyoung. something in his chest aches… could be his heart, but it hurts like hell.

“ didn’t you bring your bottle with you ?”

“ no. I left it somewhere …”

“ then, let’s grab some drinks .”

“ jaehyun and I are going to get us some drinks .” chaeyoung announces, entwining her arms with jaehyun’s as they get up. sicheng wants to puke.

“ can I get a decaf latte ?” eunwoo asks, tapping his pen against the table. he looks cute, sicheng thinks, with his round spectacles and all.

mingyu leans on his chair, throwing an arm around yumi. “ we’ll get diet cokes .”

“ _you’ll_ get a diet coke ,” yumi swats his arm away and sicheng giggles. “ I want a sprite .”

“ winwin ?” jaehyun asks with a hopeful look, as if wishing to get some interaction from his best friend.

but sicheng doesn’t even look up from his book. the tension in the atmosphere is thick, and he’s sure the others notice it too (except chaeyoung), but he couldn’t care less. call him petty because he is. after all, he’s raised by ten.

“ espresso .” is all he said.

jaehyun’s face crumples and nods in defeat. before he could say anything, chaeyoung drags him out, and when they leave the rest collectively groan in relief.

“ god, who invited her ?” yumi asks, brushing her hands through her purple-ombre hair.

“ the people pleaser, obviously ,” eunwoo shrugs. “ I can die from all her whining and acting to be cute. if she wasn’t here we could’ve get the work done by now .”

mingyu shoots a glance at sicheng. “ you don’t even drink espresso .”

“ I know ,” he says simply. “ if jaehyun cares enough, maybe he’ll switch it to mocha or whatever .”

“ oooh. is this a test for him as your bestie or is it just the jealousy talking ?” yumi snickers. sicheng shoots her a look.

“ why did you even let him bring her, dude ?”

“ it’s not like he’ll listen to me .”

another round of oohs. “ you guys are fighting, hm ?”

“ not really… at least not until she came .”

“ I knew it, that witch, a home-wrecker !”

“ yumi, you’re overreacting ,” sicheng playfully rolls his eyes and shoves his book into his bag. “ I’m not in the mood to study anymore .”

“ what’s this, sicheng, the trophy student in our class not wanting to study? has the witch spelt some black magic on you or something ?” mingyu’s eyes widen, gasping.

“ shut up .”

“ sicheng’s right, I'm bummed ,” eunwoo nods. “ let’s talk about the halloween party. what are you guys dressed up as ?”

mingyu glances at his girlfriend and yumi smirks. “ she rejected my idea of shrek and fiona, so guess we’re princess peach and mario .” 

“ and I’m not the princess peach .” she announces, evilly smiling.

“ thanks for the heads-up, I’ll avoid mingyu ,” eunwoo cringes, before turning to sicheng. “ you ?”

“ well, a furry .”

“ isn’t that what you are ?”

“ funny, mingyu. I mean, a chick. ten-ge bought a lot of animal onesies and I’m the chick .”

“ oooh, family costumes, that’s fun !”

eunwoo tilts his head. “ heard you’re gonna join the dance too ?”

“ yeah. you know I’ve been joining it for years, but this year we’ll join as a group .”

“ man, I’ve tried to convince my friends to join, too ,” mingyu draws out a long sigh. “ but they’re too busy playing some stupid dating simulator .”

the rest laugh, and sicheng finally forgets his current dilemma. he doesn’t realize how many minutes have passed, doesn’t even notice eunwoo’s arm around his shoulder, until suddenly chaeyoung and jaehyun are back. chaeyoung is still glued to jaehyun and sicheng tries not to stare.

“ sorry for the wait, it’s pretty crowded .”

jaehyun hands the drinks to their respective owners, but sicheng doesn’t see his. huh, guess jaehyun didn’t pass the bestie check.

“ what were you guys talking about ?” chaeyoung asks as she sits down, brushing a strand of pink hair away from her face.

“ just about the halloween party ,” eunwoo fills in. “ and how’s sicheng gonna perform as a furry .”

sicheng nudges him, giggling. “ shut up .”

“ hey, it’s okay, you’ll still look cute .”

sicheng rolls his eyes playfully at eunwoo, then turns forward to see jaehyun glaring at eunwoo’s arm over his shoulder and their close proximity. when their eyes meet, sicheng keeps a neutral look while jaehyun's plain unreadable. he hears yumi snorts.

“ sicheng’s born cute, of course he will .”

“ who are you guys going to the party with ?” chaeyoung asks again, fluttering her lashes.

“ yumi, obviously .”

eunwoo shrugs. “ not sure, still looking for a partner ,” he turns to sicheng again. “ you interested ?”

yumi and mingyu laugh, while jaehyun doesn’t look too pleased. sicheng feels his cheeks burn, but eunwoo’s eyes are playful, and he decides to play along.

“ hm. maybe? what’d you got to offer ?”

“ isn’t this pretty face enough for you ?”

“ not really. I’ve got my own .”

“ oh, come on, I’ll even match with you .”

“ as a furry ?” sicheng raises a teasing brow. “ how sweet .”

“ get a room, you guys .” mingyu butts in, purposefully glances at jaehyun to read his reaction. but the korean’s face remains hard to decipher.

“ speaking of it ,” chaeyoung claps her hands together. “ I was meant to ask, jaehyun, if you wanted to go to the party with me ?”

okay, now that was unexpected. sicheng’s smile turns to a frown, while jaehyun snaps back to reality, eyes widen at her question. yumi and mingyu stop laughing. even eunwoo drops his façade, glancing to sicheng with concern lacing his beautiful face.

“ I had wanted to ask you out for so long ,” chaeyoung rests her hands on top of jaehyun’s. the man looks at her, blinks (sicheng sees the way his ears redden), then to their hands. “ so… what’s your answer ?”

“ um .” jaehyun gulps, his eyes meet sicheng’s. “ I –”

sicheng decides whatever his answer is, he doesn’t want to hear it. so he gets up and slings his bag over his shoulder, faking a smile. “ I have to go. class starts in twenty .”

“ but we can walk together .” eunwoo offers, confused at sicheng’s sudden reaction.

“ no, it’s okay, I… I like to get there early ,” he shoots a glance at jaehyun before looking away. “ see you guys .”

he presses a tight smile and leaves right away. ignoring jaehyun who calls his name out, sicheng dashes right to the only place he could think of right now – the dance studio, his safe haven, because the other one (the library) clearly isn’t a choice now.

luckily it’s empty by now. sicheng slams the door shut and tosses his bag onto the floor, then sits against the mirrors that were attached to the walls, and folds his legs against his chest. he hangs his head low and closes his eyes, suddenly feeling so down for whatever reason.

no, of course he knows why. it’s chaeyoung, and jaehyun, stupid jaehyun who couldn’t say no to people to save his life. before he could say yes to chaeyoung this time too, sicheng decides to leave first before he could break his own heart.

call him pathetic but he can’t bare it. 

it’s chaeyoung, anyways? who wouldn’t want her? she’s everything anyone could ask for. and he saw it, the way jaehyun looked at chaeyoung, smiled and laughed at everything she said, even if they’re not funny. plus, as xiaojun said, jaehyun’s a heartthrob; he and chaeyoung would be a power couple.

god… xiaojun. his brothers are right, goddamnit, and he hates himself for not listening. maybe if he confessed this wouldn’t happened. maybe if he’s not such a pussy this wouldn’t happened.

why is he even mad at jaehyun? this isn’t the korean’s fault. it’s his. sure, jaehyun’s a dick for bringing chaeyoung along, but if he wants to go to the party with her it’s none of sicheng’s goddamn business.

if he wants to go out with her it’s none of sicheng’s business.

sicheng sighs and rubs his face with his hands. he’s hopeless; never knew what to do with his feelings when they get intense and dump them on someone else instead. sometimes he wonders why jaehyun’s still keeping up with him.

the door creaks suddenly and sicheng wipes his eyes, trying not to look like he’s on the edge of tears (he is). when he turns around, though, he doesn’t expect to see jaehyun.

“ hi ,” the korean smiles. “ figured out you’ll be here .”

sicheng stares at him. after some moment he speaks, “ why are you here ?”

“ dunno, was thinking of learning ballet before I go to class ,” jaehyun jokes, an attempt to lighten the mood, and sicheng swears he almost laughs. he doesn’t. “ isn’t it obvious? because of you .”

the chinese doesn’t reply. jaehyun’s tiny smile dies down and he sits next to sicheng, keeping a safe distance between them. he slides a bottle over to sicheng; sicheng raises a brow yet takes it.

“ hot chocolate ?”

“ your drink .”

“ I asked for espresso .”

jaehyun shrugs. “ I might be a terrible friend but I know you don’t drink coffee, win .”

sicheng turns to jaehyun and his gaze softens. jaehyun looks genuinely sorry and sicheng feels so bad, especially hearing such words from the older. there’s no way jaehyun is a ‘terrible’ friend, he’s the best one sicheng could ask for. if anything… he’s the terrible one here, bottling his emotions up and letting it out at jaehyun whenever he wants.

not anymore, though. he has enough of keeping things to himself.

“ I’m sorry ,” sicheng says softly. “ you’re not terrible, jae. I’m sorry I made you feel that way. I’m just… pissed off, and I admit I exaggerated .”

“ I’m at fault too. shouldn’t had brought her .”

“ yeah. you have to learn saying no, you know. maybe I can teach you .”

jaehyun doesn’t reply. at least, not verbally, because he takes sicheng’s hand and squishes it. sicheng smiles.

“ I did said no .”

“ wha – what ?”

“ I rejected chaeyoung ,” jaehyun confesses and turns to sicheng. “ I feel like a jerk but you’re right, I should learn to say no .”

“ but… why ?”

“ I mean, going as friends would be fine, but she clearly has other plans. I’m not ready for that yet, the whole date-thing, at least not with her… plus doyoung will kill me if I ditch them .”

sicheng giggles, though he has to admit he feels relieved hearing that. jaehyun smiles at him and scoots closer to the chinese.

“ if I wanted to ditch them to go to the party with a date and risk getting killed by doyoung, I would pick someone more special .” jaehyun adds.

“ oh, really? and who would it be ?”

“ dunno. you, maybe .”

out of all sudden, the world around them seems to stop. sicheng’s smile disappears and he stares at jaehyun, perplexed and shocked to the core, his heartbeat speeding up at an inhuman rate. did he hear it right?

jaehyun stares back at him, smiling at first, then it slowly wavers when his eyes trail lower. sicheng must be dreaming but jaehyun is obviously staring at his lips. his expression is dark, almost unreadable; sicheng’s breathe gets caught in his throat.

just as jaehyun’s hand find its way to sicheng’s thighs, sicheng’s ringtone _growl_ comes on and they both jump back, caught off-guard.

sicheng grunts when he sees the caller’s ID. damnit, he doesn’t know if he’s grateful or annoyed for the interruption.

“ hello, ten-ge .”

“ dong sicheng, where in hell are you ?” the thai’s voice is too loud that sicheng has to move his phone away. jaehyun laughs at his best friend’s grimace. “ eunwoo and mingyu told me they couldn’t contact you, and you’re nowhere to be found when you should’ve been in english class now. and you didn’t eat lunch with us !” ten rants, then pauses, drops his voice lower. “ or are you finally getting some action with jaehyun? if that’s the case, I won’t yell at you anymore .”

okay, sicheng’s grateful jaehyun didn’t hear his last words. 

“ I’m with jaehyun. but no, not in that way… we’re in the dance studio. I’ll text eunwoo and mingyu back, so you don’t have to worry .”

“ why is it when you’re with jaehyun, you literally shut everyone else off? I feel like you categorize people into jaehyuns and non-jaehyuns, and I’m hurt –”

“ I’m hanging up, ge, bye .”

sicheng huffs and pockets his phone again. jaehyun looks at him in a confused expression and lifts a brow, hoping for sicheng to fill him in.

“ it’s ten-ge. he scolded me because I should be in class now ,” the chinese shrugs. “ speaking of which, we should go now .”

he tries to get up, yet jaehyun tugs at his sleeves slowly and stops him in his steps. sicheng looks back, puzzled.

“ wait, winwinie. actually I was thinking… maybe you wanted to show me some of the moves you’re learning .”

sicheng blinks. “ jae, are you serious ?” he asks, expecting for jaehyun to laugh and nod, but he doesn’t. “ I mean… are we really going to skip class just to… dance ?”

“ why not ?” jaehyun grins and gets up.

“ are you kidding me ?”

“ the project’s due next week, so professor lee would probably show us some boring videos and tell us to take notes. instead of watching another documentary about toads having sex, I rather be here with you .”

jaehyun extends his hand out, his smile never leaving his lips. sicheng blinks again, feeling his cheeks burn at jaehyun’s words, yet takes his best friend’s hand nonetheless.

“ just for your information, I can’t show you the dance for the party because it’s confidential .”

“ aww, don’t I get my bestie privilege ?” jaehyun pouts.

“ nope ,” sicheng smiles. “ but I’ll teach you some of my old dances, how’s that ?”

jaehyun beams back, intertwining their fingers. “ that’s perfect .”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

actually, sicheng has to admit eunwoo’s right – he looks cute in his costume. and his ass also looks great.

though it makes him feel like an outsider when they get to the party. the others either wear a dark, spooky costumes or slutty ones, no in between. while sicheng’s all about freedom in wearing whatever the hell they want, he doesn’t appreciate the flashes of skins. and the couples making out in the corridor. that’s gross.

the college community hall is big, and sicheng’s been there a lot of times, but it’s different in such different lights – or the lack thereof. to fit the mood, halloween decorations are literally everywhere and sicheng could barely recognize the people there due to the darkness. though the music is tolerable, and the chatters are only slightly louder than it. he likes the atmosphere – not too quiet but not too loud either.

renjun, dressed as a vampire, dashes right to lucas the moment he spots him and pecks the taller on the cheek. “ hey, babe ,” he smiles and scans the rest. “ whoa. xuxi wasn’t kidding when he said his house’s a zoo .”

“ he said what ?” kun asks, offended, turning to lucas who sheepishly smiles.

“ to be fair, he contributes the most in the zoo part ,” yangyang shrugs. “ where’s hyuck and the others ?”

“ the usual, we’re humiliating mark. speaking of which, mark was looking for you guys, so you should come .”

it’s obvious renjun is speaking to lucas, xiaojun and kunhang; so the three nod and follow renjun as he drags yangyang with him. sicheng shakes his head at the kids. poor mark, tonight’s gonna be long for him.

little does sicheng know, it’s gonna be even longer for him.

“ they better be here for the dance ,” ten huffs. “ and I can’t believe xuxi said that, the traitor .”

“ well… I mean, we have three pets and a yangyang, I’ll say he has a point .”

“ don’t encourage him, kun .”

“ he’s not even here !”

“ still. bet our house’s still better than a certain someone’s, though …”

kun sighs. “ here we go again .”

“ no, no, hear me out, they have fishes, kun. fishes! who in their right minds will pick those ugly scaly monsters over dogs or cats? or even rabbits? fishes are gross !”

“ hey, taeyong wants fishes, let him be .”

“ ah, I forgot I’m talking to the culprit’s boyfriend ,” ten snorts and kun’s cheeks redden. “ you’re such a traitor .”

“ I’m a traitor for dating taeyong? what about sicheng ?”

sicheng’s snapped back to reality when he realizes the two are staring at him. to be honest, he doesn’t listen to a single word they were saying because he… well, he was looking for jaehyun.

“ oho, you’re right. we have another traitor .” ten smirks.

“ me ?” sicheng blinks, pointing to himself.

“ yeah, you, young dude, who else? you literally ditched us for jaehyun. like, twice. in just this month. and you’re even trying to find him now .”

“ I – I’m not !” sicheng refutes in a defensive tone, albeit it’s useless, it’s a clear lie. 

kun and ten, as expected, don’t look convinced at all. “ sure .”

before sicheng could defend himself again, he hears a shout. it’s taeyong, calling out for kun, beaming as he makes his way towards them; a similar expression on his boyfriend’s face as he spots him. sicheng's so envious of them. 

(though, to be fair, he could’ve been like them if only he’s not such a pussy).

taeyong pecks kun’s cheek and wraps his arms around the younger’s waist. “ hey, kunny-kun ,” ten gags at the nickname and sicheng nudges him. he’s not one to talk when he calls everyone baby. “ hi, guys .”

“ hey. where’s that annoying friend of yours ?” ten asks, and sicheng swears ten’s face brightens when doyoung joins them.

“ oh, did you miss me ?” doyoung smirks. 

“ I didn’t even say which one, but you know it’s you, so you admit you’re annoying ?”

sicheng sighs. he’s not going to listen to their childish banters again. soon enough jungwoo, yuta, johnny and taeil join them too, and sicheng shares some hi’s and quick chats before he realizes they are wearing their haikyuu costumes. like, he knows they’re going to, but he hasn’t noticed it until now. they look pretty good.

but he still hasn’t seen jaehyun, though. bet he looks even better, sicheng thinks, not caring that it sounds biased.

“ you look zoned out, chengie ,” johnny comments. “ if you’re looking for jaehyun, he was at the restroom .”

“ can people stop assuming I’m looking for him ?” sicheng asks, defeated, though it’s a lie. 

“ it’s not an assumption when it’s a fact .” jungwoo teases and sicheng nudges him.

doyoung turns his attention towards them now, and so does ten. kun and taeyong… well, they’re busy. 

just a glance at sicheng’s cherry cheeks and ten could guess what they’re talking about. “ are you guys bullying sicheng about his crush? I want in, too .”

“ aww, is winwinie searching for his jaehyunnie ?” doyoung coos, and sicheng wants to throw a brick at him.

“ wait, winwinie ?” yuta asks, looking quite lost.

“ yeah! don’t you know? jaehyun calls our sicheng winwin ,” johnny fills in with a huge grin. “ bet you have pet names for your crush too, don’t you, winwin ?”

“ I’m not looking for him and I do not have a crush on jae –”

“ hey .”

sicheng feels like his heart jumps out of its cage at the familiar voice. as contrary to his words, he turns back at once, knowing for sure the others gonna tease him for that later but he couldn’t care less. not when the voice belongs to jaehyun.

the korean smiles at him, and god, sicheng’s right – he looks so beautiful.

the sleeveless uniform exposes a good portion of his honey skin, and his black hair is tied back into a mini-bun, which sicheng loves so much already, and that’s when he realizes. jaehyun is kageyama.

sweet.

“ jae ,” sicheng’s breathless for whatever reason and he smiles. “ hi .”

jaehyun eyes him as he walks closer, both hands in his pockets. “ you look cute .

“ you’re not bad yourself .”

“ _not crush_ my arse ,” doyoung fakes a cough. “ let’s grab some drinks, guys. I’m thirsty. oh, but, jaehyun and winwin aren’t invited .”

“ why the hell are we not invited ?” jaehyun asks, half-confused half-offended.

ten smirks, and for the first time in forever, clings to doyoung’s arm like they’re besties. surprisingly, the korean lets him. “ because you guys have, you know, besties things to do .” the rest laugh and glance at sicheng teasingly. “ we’ll leave you to it .”

jungwoo mouths a good luck to sicheng before he joins the rest, leaving an embarrassed sicheng and dumb-founded jaehyun alone. sicheng swears he’s gonna kill them all after this.

he’s brought to reality when jaehyun softly nudges him. as if taunting sicheng, jaehyun smiles, tilting his head in a cute manner and sicheng wants to choke him until he turns blue because what the fuck, he’s adorable.

“ so. I thought you were going with eunwoo .”

“ I was – we were kidding ,” sicheng scoffs. “ besides you know ten would never let me ditch them for someone… unless if the someone’s my partner, then he’ll be thrilled .”

“ well, he always lets you ditch them for me .” jaehyun says, matter-of-fact, and he grins.

sicheng playfully rolls his eyes. that’s because I have a huge crush on you and he knows, sicheng thinks, eyeing the way jaehyun’s dimples poke out. 

before sicheng could reply, jaehyun’s eyes lit up out of all sudden. “ hey. I just remembered something. have you bumped into mingyu, by the way ?”

“ no. why ?”

“ dude, he dressed up as princess peach! I saw him and it was hilarious. yumi’s fine, she’s hot, but mingyu probably gonna win the worst costume or something. you have to see it .”

“ sure. lead the way .”

they have a similar expression on their faces; the smile they always share, laced with a bit mischief, and secrets only they both know, the smile they use to communicate when they’re thinking of the same thing but refuse to use words to speak. 

it started ever since they got close four years ago, when ten was baking a cake and they both sneaked some fruits in to mess with him. sicheng misses it. don’t get him wrong, they’re still as close as ever, if not even more, but they’ve been too busy lately that they couldn’t find time to mess around together.

now, though, sicheng thinks it’s the perfect time.

jaehyun takes his hand and leads him to the other part of the room. it’s less crowded there, in a way, and sicheng notices it’s mostly filled with students his age. he nods at minghao who smiles back and also avoids bambam before the thai could make another scene if he sees jaehyun and sicheng’s hands entwined together. next to ten, and maybe doyoung, bambam’s one of their biggest shipper.

fortunately, bambam doesn’t notice them when jaehyun stops at a table. and that’s when he sees it.

it means mingyu, with a too-yellow-it-hurts wig and a long, pink dress. 

sicheng snorts, trying not to burst into laughter, but when he turns to jaehyun who’s also grinning he fails miserably and laughs so hard his stomach hurts. jaehyun joins, too – and mingyu glares at the two with yumi giggling at his side.

she’s mario, as said, and her newly-dyed dark brown hair is tied into pigtails. there’s a fake moustache on her face but she still looks beautiful, like jaehyun said.

“ not even a hello and you’re laughing at my face already, dong sicheng. why am I not surprised ?” he comments, pouting.

“ oh come on, babe. it’s not like you don’t know sicheng ,” yumi grins once the laughter dies down. “ by the way, you look adorbs, cheng .”

“ thank you. not as adorable as your boyfriend, though …”

“ ha-fucking-ha. funny, sicheng, now will you let me live and drink my soda in peace ?”

“ you’re so petty, mings. he’s right, you’re adorable .” jaehyun chimes in, with the sincerest smile he could offer – failing only when he laughs with sicheng again.

“ oh my god, you two are insufferable .”

“ ooh, if it’s not my favourite couple ,” a new voice joins them, and sicheng spins to see eunwoo, taking a while to recognize what he’s dressing up as. then it clicks, he’s detective conan. it’s cute. “ and I’m not talking to the hets .”

sicheng nudges him while jaehyun smiles. “ we’re not a couple, for the last time .”

“ couple of besties, I meant. are you guys teasing mingyu for his costume? because if not, might as well go back to the boring conversation I was having with professor kim .”

it’s not even a surprise eunwoo was chatting to a lecturer before he came here. thanks to his looks, he’s an old-people-magnet, because he looks soft and polite and well-mannered. he is, at times… though sicheng knows him well and knows he’s not fond with lecturers most of the time.

“ don’t worry, we so are. for real, how could yumi slay her costume yet you fail yours so badly? why can’t you just dye your hair instead of wearing a fake-ass wig ?”

“ rich coming from you – ugh, no ,” mingyu draws out a long sigh. “ I hate that I can’t use this line on you, jung fucking jaehyun, because as much as I cringe to say this, just look at you. you’re beautiful. god’s masterpiece. literally our college’s craze. you can never look bad .”

yumi and eunwoo laugh when jaehyun’s ears redden. sicheng smiles. it’s adorable how jaehyun knows he’s hot, but gets shy whenever someone points it out. 

“ come on, mings, you’re not that bad ,” eunwoo says, and mingyu smiles, only for it to drop at his next words. “ though no one is as hot as jaehyun is… but still, you’re good .”

“ thanks for the confidence boost, eunwoo .” mingyu doesn’t even try to hide his sarcasm in his deadpan, and sicheng giggles.

“ okay, okay… maybe he looks slightly less attractive when he’s in his dorm, who knows ?”

“ I can confirm he looks good even in our college sweater and shorts .” sicheng blurts out, regretting it at an instance. it’s too late. they’re all staring at him, jaehyun with cheeks flushed, the others with amused smirks and whispering oohs under their breath.

yumi lifts a brow, teasing. “ isn’t it invalid, though, coming from you? it’s biased when you two are so into each other .”

“ I do not –” it was sicheng’s turn to turn pink, but mingyu cuts him before he can continue.

“ it’s biased. totally is .”

“ mhm, maybe we should call jaehyun’s roommate to confirm, I don’t trust sicheng because he’s a simp .”

jaehyun glances briefly at sicheng – if sicheng’s not mistaken, there’s some sort of hope in them, like he wishes for sicheng to confirm their words, that he’s, in fact, smitten for jaehyun. there’s sparks in jaehyun’s eyes; there’s tenderness and patience yet also passion and eagerness. sicheng wishes they mean what he wants them to mean.

he’s still a pussy who won’t stay true to his feelings but jaehyun’s eyes give him a boost of confidence, that maybe… he should tell jaehyun how he truly feels about him.  
and perhaps, tonight’s the night.

“ jae, I –”

“ jaehyun !”

they all sans jaehyun and sicheng groan at the interruption. the voice belongs to none other than chaeyoung, dressed in a cheer outfit which reveals a huge portion of her skin. sicheng doesn’t judge her for that but… he doesn’t appreciate it, either.

the girl skips past sicheng and glues herself to jaehyun almost immediately; she either doesn’t see yumi’s intense glare or she pretends so. sicheng, in the other hand, feels the hope he has earlier crumbles into pieces.

chaeyoung is gorgeous, he admits. more so than him… 

“ there you are. I’ve been trying to find you for twenty minutes. I left you to grab a drink and you’re already gone, where did you go ?”

“ chae ,” jaehyun greets, clearing his throat as he scans the others. he doesn’t meet sicheng’s eyes. “ I was trying to find winwin, that’s all. you know, he gets lost sometimes .”

chaeyoung gives sicheng a pointed look. “ sicheng’s a grown man, jae. pretty sure he can manage without you .”

“ unlike someone ,” yumi coughs. “ you know what? mingyu and I are getting something to eat. I’m starving. cheng and woo are allowed to come but jaehyun… pretty sure you have something to deal with first .”

she trails her eyes to chaeyoung, subtly rolling her eyes and mingyu nudges her but she doesn’t bother. sicheng looks at eunwoo, desperation in his eyes, screaming _please don’t leave me alone with them_ telepathically. 

eunwoo shrugs. “ yeah, I’m hungry, too .”

sicheng wants to choke him yet doesn’t say anything when they three leave, with mingyu and eunwoo telling him a quick _see you around_ and _good luck with your competition_. when they leave, the atmosphere grows awkward and tense and sicheng wants to evaporate into the horizon.

“ so… now that you made sure sicheng isn’t lost, can we go back to my friends? or maybe you want to join us too, sicheng? we’re playing spin the bottle !” chaeyoung purposefully raises her voice at the last words, shifting her eyes towards sicheng and smiles. something in sicheng’s stomach clenches. parties aren’t for him, but he’s not stranger to such games.

he can’t imagine witnessing jaehyun kissing another guy or girl in front of him. no, just no.

luckily, jaehyun notices his discomfort. 

“ um… I don’t think it’s a good idea, chae. sicheng’s up in a while and I want to watch him, so .”

sicheng almost smiles. “ yeah. sorry .”

“ you boys aren’t fun ,” she pouts. “ but jae, it’ll take a while before sicheng’s up on stage, you can afford some rounds .”

“ maybe. but I like to be early, I’ve never not be in the front row when sicheng performs .”

“ it’s just a couple of minutes, jae! plus I’m pretty sure you can get the front row no matter how late you are .”

sicheng blinks. is that supposed to be an insult to him?

“ bro ,” jaehyun quirks a brow in mild-offended (sicheng himself isn’t offended yet jaehyun is, he thinks it’s cute) and steps back from her. “ have you ever watched his performances? it’s always full and packed and I’m not sacrificing my seat just for your games .”

the tense in the atmosphere grows even thicker and sicheng gulps. jaehyun’s soft side has gone now, the moment chaeyoung decides to mock sicheng, and he doesn’t know whether to feel grateful for jaehyun or pitiful for chaeyoung. definitely more grateful, though. glad to know jaehyun always has his back.

sicheng thanks the heaven when out of all sudden yangyang appears, yanking him by the shoulder, “ sorry to disturb your date but we’re up in seven !”

it’s a motion blur for sicheng because damn, yangyang has no chill, but he could see jaehyun smiling at him and shouting a _good luck_ before yangyang drags him into the crowd. sicheng doesn’t have the opportunity to yell something cheesy like _you’re my luck back_ but… maybe he’ll find the time.

he’s no stranger to stages and audiences and having the spotlight on him – but sicheng by all means is familiar to his anxiety, which gets even worse when he’s on stage, too. it’s scary. the thought of people watching your every movement, waiting and judging if you make a mistake, maybe even make fun out of you and laugh at your face.

but then his eyes meet jaehyun’s in the crowd and he realizes it’s alright when jaehyun smiles at him. the smile, he has seen thousands of times, yet his love for it never wavers. the smile says _I’m proud of you_ and sicheng smiles back.

dancing in the onesie is hard, in a way. it’s lighter than any of his other stage costumes but the it’s hotter inside and he’s drenched in sweat. he sweeps his hand back and lets the hood falls off, not expecting to meet with squeals and giggles and even flashes of cameras.

“ see? told you ,” xiaojun mutters with a smirk when they stand next to each other during ten’s solo. “ got yourself quite a fanbase .”

sicheng rolls his eyes. to be fair, they all got themselves fanbases.

when the performance ends the audience cheers for them until sicheng’s ears almost bleed. it’s not a surprise, because when it was only him and ten back then they’re just as enthusiastic, but sicheng’s too overwhelmed (in a good way) to care. especially when their friends rush to them at once.

“ sicheng-ge !” mark beams. sicheng misses him so he lets mark hugs him. “ you did awesome, dude, truly the star .”

lucas huffs. “ I thought I was your best friend .”

“ you don’t need validation, babe, you know you’re great .” renjun says simply and lucas grins.

“ congratulations, kunny-kun .” taeyong shouts as he pulls his boyfriend into a hug; doyoung and ten staring enviously at them.

“ disgusting .” ten says.

“ yeah ,” doyoung turns to him. “ wanna be… disgusting together ?”

sicheng shoots ten, who has turn to a tomato, a teasing smile before he excuses himself.

the atmosphere in the onesie is stuffy, too hot for sicheng’s likings. he’s sweaty all over his body and his legs hurt like hell. lucas and mark didn’t help with all the hugs, either. sicheng wants to go home and shower and sleep for eleven hours.

“ sicheng .”

he halts in his steps. it’s a hoarse, deep voice he can recognise from miles, a voice he could pinpoint from a crowd. 

the thing is – despite being with jaehyun makes him not want to die – he can’t let jaehyun see him like this. not in this hideous costume where he’s sweaty and smells like fake fur and cheap detergent after performing. especially not when jaehyun, despite also sweating from the heat in the room, looks gorgeous.

he’s about to dash when jaehyun grabs his wrist. “ winwinie ,” he whines. sicheng is weak. “ where you’re going ?”

sicheng sucks in a deep breath and turns around. his breathe gets stuck in his throat because damn, he doesn’t expect jaehyun to be this close.

“ you’re awesome ,” not were, sicheng likes the sound of it. “ I’m proud of you .”

sicheng smiles. “ thank you, jae. where’s the others ?”

“ yumi and mingyu are… busy, and eunwoo’s got something to do. they watched, though, and told me to tell you you’re great. not that you needed any validation .”

“ stop flattering me .”

“ I’m telling you the truth .” jaehyun beams.

jaehyun’s gorgeous, sicheng never stops to notice. especially up-close. his eyes, his mouth, his nose, his jaw, and heck, even his little flaws are perfect in sicheng’s eyes. he can’t get enough of them.

sicheng’s about to say something when suddenly someone bumps his back, sending him stumbling forward onto jaehyun. his eyes flash wide as jaehyun steadies him with both of his hands and he feels some wet liquid on his shirt, creeped out of it for a moment, until he realizes jaehyun was holding a cup of soda in his hand.

“ watch it ,” jaehyun scolds the man who pushed sicheng in a firm voice, before turning to his best friend and his tone softens at once. “ are you okay? I’m so sorry .”

sicheng detaches himself from jaehyun and drops his eyes to his shirt. now there’s an ugly brown patch in the middle of the yellow outfit. “ it’s fine. not your fault. you’ve got some on your shirt, too .”

“ doyoung would kill me if he sees this .”

not like he would any time soon, because he sorta has a ten situation to deal with, but sicheng giggles at jaehyun’s word. the spots on jaehyun’s shirt are more prominent.

“ do you wanna drop by mine to change ?” sicheng asks out of all sudden; it felt natural and appropriate to ask.

“ sure ,” jaehyun replies, no hesitation. “ I’m bored, anyways. let’s get out of here.

so that’s how they both end up in sicheng’s room in the middle of the night, when their friends are all still at the party, probably playing some stupid games or humiliating themselves. sicheng decides it’s safer in his room because if his brothers decide to go home suddenly, they won’t get caught; sicheng can’t stand the teasing for now. 

yet the thought is kinda silly. they don’t look like they’re going home soon. not to mention sicheng’s house is a few blocks away from their college. but eh, better safe than sorry.  
he will pester ten for details about the doyoung situation later, though. it’s only fair.

sicheng sits on his bed as he watches, in silence, as jaehyun takes off his basketball tank and puts on the black hoodie sicheng gives him. he’s might be a pervert for staring but. who cares?

he’s in jaehyun’s flannel shirt, again, because he took it out to give it back to its owner but jaehyun insisted for him to keep it. said something about how sicheng’s cuter in it. sicheng tries to act nonchalant about it when he’s dying inside.

jaehyun lies down on the bed, his body feeling the empty space next to sicheng and his warmth radiating off to the otherwise cold room. sicheng likes the feeling. it’s been a while since he has someone to sleep in the same bed, and he’s thankful it’s jaehyun.

the korean’s hair is wet from the shower he had earlier and sicheng allows himself to play with it. jaehyun lets him, too. he hums a familiar tone and they both stay like that, with only the moon light illuminating the room.

sicheng suddenly feels he’s gonna burst. his feelings get too intense now, being alone with jaehyun in his room, with the korean next to him as he plays with his locks. he can’t bottle his emotions anymore.

so he lets them out.

“ I like you .” he blurts out, regretting it way too late.

sicheng’s voice is muffled, barely above a whisper – but jaehyun heard. he sits upright and stares at sicheng like he’s an alien from another planet trying to inspect an artifact, but his look’s fond, lacing with amusement. sicheng almost flinches when jaehyun caresses his cheeks.

“ go on .” is all the korean says.

“ I like you, as in, more than best friends ,” sicheng confesses once he decides there’s no going back now. “ I like the way you smile. the way you laugh. your dimples. the way you dance, it’s clumsy and you always fall but it’s adorable. you’re adorable, jae, and I never thought I’d be saying this out loud because it sounds so cringey now but it’s true. I like watching movies with you although I can’t understand anything. I like watching you cook. I like being with you. you’re so patient and thoughtful with me, and you always open up to me although I like to bottle my emotions in. and… I like you. like you so much it’s hard to be with you at times yet it’s also the easiest thing to do .”

when he finishes, sicheng’s out of breathe and jaehyun’s staring at him with an unreadable look, so he adds, “ I love you .”

jaehyun grins. “ I know .”  
“ you – you do ?”

“ yeah ,” jaehyun laughs. “ it’s hard not to when our friends tease us most of the times… and you aren’t exactly subtle, you know. I just wanted to hear it from you .”

fuck. sicheng must’ve looked like an idiot. while he appreciates jaehyun for being patient with him most of the time, he hates him for it now. and he hates, hates their friends – but he hates himself more for being an idiot.

“ but it’s okay. I love you too .”

sicheng’s brain short-circuits. what? 

suddenly his last brain cell is gone and he can’t think. so you’re telling him, jung jaehyun, his best friend he’s been pinning for years, actually likes him back, and they could’ve been dating if he wasn’t such a pussy before? wow.

never in his life he felt like such an idiot. (kun tells that to him a lot but he doesn’t believe him, until now.)

jaehyun notices how his face goes blank and chuckles, pinching his cheeks. sicheng whines in his adorable high-pitched voice and jaehyun beams, his eyes crinkle, full of mirth and fondness and love, and sicheng realizes maybe he’s not the only whipped-as-a-cream one here.

when he tries to cover his cherry face with his hands, jaehyun takes his hand away and kisses his cheek, catching him off-guard. sicheng’s eyes go wide and he pushes jaehyun away… maybe a bit too hard. it’s okay, though, because jaehyun ends up laughing.

“ what was that for ?”

“ you’re too adorable .” jaehyun replies and stares back at sicheng, his smile never faltering.

“ on a serious note ,” he shoves jaehyun away again before the korean could kiss him again. “ do… do you mean it ?”

“ winwinie, there’s no way I’d joke about this. I’m serious, I love you and I mean it .”

sicheng blinks. “ then why didn’t you say anything ?”

“ I didn’t want to rush you, so I thought I’d let you figure things out on your own… though you took so long, it’s okay, because I know you, win, and I know rushing you will only make you more confused, and I don’t want that. and to be fair, I did flirted with you tons of time. I didn’t think I was subtle, either. but you didn’t get my hints, I assume .”

“ well… you also should’ve known better than to expect the first move from me !”

“ rich coming from you who didn’t say anything, either .” jaehyun lifts a brow, teasing, and sicheng smacks him again.

“ to be fair, I wanted to confess on your birthday if it wasn’t for yangyang who ate the chocolates …”

“ wanna know something? I wanted to ask you out to the party, as boyfriends, but I chickened out .”

“ really ?” sicheng asks, eyes wide.

“ yup. guess I’ve should’ve just gone as a chicken, shouldn’t I? we could’ve matched. as boyfriends .”

“ while matching as boyfriends will be cute, not sure if I fancy the idea of matching as furries, though .”

“ hm ,” jaehyun pauses, thinking. he strokes his hands through sicheng’s orange hair and his eyes sparkle when it hits him. “ then you can be my hinata !”

“ gosh, jae, and I thought I was a weeb .” sicheng rolls his eyes, smiling.

“ yeah, I know, and you know what? maybe we need to talk about it that too. I’m seriously thinking you only confessed now only because I’m dressed up as kageyama .”

sicheng laughs, full-body laughter this time, and he hits jaehyun on the laps. jaehyun grins and joins him, too. 

“ at least I’m making the first move now. give me credit when it’s due .” sicheng says.

“ mhm ,” jaehyun scoots closer to him and takes sicheng’s face in his hands. he smiles and so does sicheng. “ though I’ll take over from now on. and, winwin, I’m sorry baby but I don’t think I can be patient with you tonight .”

sicheng blinks. jaehyun’s lips are ghosting right on top of his and he can’t breathe but he manages to smirk, taunting jaehyun. “ then don’t .”

and jaehyun, being just as smitten for sicheng as sicheng is for him, gladly complies.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn’t expect it to be this long, because I only wanted a <3k one shot but... oh well  
> hope y’all enjoy reading idiots jaewin in love as much as I did writing it!  
> leave some kudos and comments, maybe? love you xx  
> cross-posted on my wattpad : sillyseo


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